


Stumble and Fall

by lowermiddlechild



Series: High School AU [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Comfort, Depression, M/M, boyfriends being good for each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2016-05-03
Packaged: 2018-06-06 01:57:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6733354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lowermiddlechild/pseuds/lowermiddlechild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren finally finds out why Levi misses school so often</p><p>Side story to Give Your Best</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stumble and Fall

**Author's Note:**

> so im making this a series but it's literally just Give Your Best and then two one shots.
> 
> here's the non smut one shot, i hope you guys like it! it hits very close to home for me and im hoping it gets you too.

“Who’d you say you were again?” A lady, no more than thirty years old, stood in Levi’s doorway, the one and only obstacle between me and my missing boyfriend. 

“I’m a friend from school,” I answered and when she just looked even more confused I continued, “I’m Eren Jaeger. I’m the quarterba-“

“Oh, oh oh! Eren Jaeger! I know who you are now! Why didn’t ya just say so? My brother talks about you all the time!” 

“Coach is your… brother?” I asked, a little afraid of the answer. 

“Yeah, Kenny and I are twins. I moved in after what happened with Levi’s mom. Kids need proper taking care of and I knew Kenny sure wouldn’t be the one to take care of him. Call me Ms. Tracy!” She smiled at me and I managed to smile back through the worry eating away at me over Levi. 

“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am. Could I go up and see Levi now?” I said as pleasantly as possible. 

“Aw normally you could, but I’m afraid he’s in one of his moods today,” she answered sadly. 

“Moods?” 

“There will be days, entire days, when he just doesn’t come out of his room,” she said in a gossipy whisper, “Just locks himself up! He doesn’t answer his phone or come to the door; I guess he probably spends the whole time sleeping. Doesn’t matter what you ask him to do, he doesn’t want to do it. I used to think he was holing himself up to do homework or work on music or something but he leaves his book bag and drumsticks and sheet music in the study. Just drops everything. Once I offered him tickets to see his favorite band to try to get him out of his funk and he still didn’t come out!” 

“Has he ever been to see like a counselor or something?” I wanted to ask Levi himself but since I don’t think he’d respond well to my questions; his aunt was the next best option. 

“He used to see a counselor but the old man lost his license to practice. Something about being drunk on the job. I didn’t think Pixis was any good anyway. He doesn’t need a doctor or anything anyway. Just needs to get himself movin again!” She flapped her hand at me just one of those overly proper Southern ladies in movies as she continued to ramble on about her son. I had a brief month in 10th where I was really into the whole Southern belle thing. Sleepy Southern town getting to me I guess. She kept talking and I just straight zoned out; I started thinking about all the times Levi missed school. I had always thought it was him getting sick or family trips or just plain skipping but now… 

“Don’t worry though dear. He’ll be back in action in a few days!” Her words brought me back into the present and they were clearly a dismissal; the polite thing would have been to take the hint and leave but fuck manners. 

“Wow, thanks for all of that! I think I’m going to go check on him!” I said with a bright smile before I pushed past her into the house and took the stairs up to Levi’s room two at a time. She did this weird little screech thing that almost made me pause because, holy fuck, she sounded like some kind of prehistoric bird or some shit, and followed behind me. I basically sprinted down the hall and came to a stop in front of Levi’s door. 

“It’s no use dear! He won’t answer the door!” She sounded both exhausted and exasperated and if I wasn’t so focused on Levi, I might have taken a second to take in the MILF that is Levi’s aunt. Maybe a AILF? Not sure. She was coming down the hallway and was probably about to literally kick my ass out of her house. 

I spared her one more glance before banging loudly on Levi’s door. “Levi? Levi! It’s me, Eren! Open up! I’m worried about you and your aunt thinks I’m crazy and you’ve missed all this work and stuff and I just-“ 

I was cut off as Levi swung the door open to see his aunt looking incredibly harassed and confused as she looked at her nephew and tried to drag his hollering, door-banging, slightly suicidal friend away. Levi stood there, staring for half a second before his mouth settled into a grim line and he grabbed my shirt to pull me into his room. I waved cheerily at his aunt before he slammed the door shut again. I hope he doesn’t do that often. I don’t think the door is that strong. 

If I was expecting some kind of a happy reaction from Levi, I was sorely mistaken. His glare shifted from the door to my face and if my back hadn’t already been against the wall, I probably would have taken a step back. Sure, I’ve got almost a foot on him but man, Levi looks terrifying when he’s mad. 

“What are you doing here?” Levi asked after a moment. 

“Uh, you hadn’t been to class in a while? And now that we’re like, a thing, I figured I’d come and see if you were okay,” I answered, suddenly aware of what a bad plan looks like. 

Levi’s glare didn’t lessen at all as he asked, “You came to check on me? You think I need to you to do that?” 

I didn’t say a word, just stood there and waited for the yelling to start but it never came. Levi deflated after a minute and stepped back from me, turning and calling over his shoulder, 

“Go home.” 

There are times when you should listen to the words a person says and there are times when you have to listen to the meaning behind the words they’re saying and this was one of the second times for sure. I wasn’t really sure what to do so I decided to go with my first instinct and just collapse on top of him, letting my arms drape over his back and wrap around his shoulders, my chest pressed into his back. Levi tensed up and I was sure he was going to flip me over my back like a wrestler or something, but instead he leaned back to press himself against me. 

“Do you want to talk about?” I asked, keeping my voice low. It felt like a moment that would be broken if I wasn’t careful. 

He sighed, hands coming up to lightly grip my arms. “Not really.” 

“Do you want to do anything?” 

“Read, maybe.” 

My lips found their way to the back of his neck and I left a small kiss there before I asked, “Do you want me to leave?” 

His hold on my arms tightened. “No.” 

Levi twisted in my arms then until he was face to face with me. He stood on his toes just long enough to kiss me full on the lips, just a peck, before he motioned over to the bed and slipped away. I followed him over and when he laid out on one side of the bed, book in hand and I plopped down on the other side, moving over until I was just close enough for our legs to touch. My head was about level with his shoulder and Levi looked down at me for a moment before he shifted his legs on top of mine. 

We laid there for what felt like forever. Levi just kept reading his book and I was starting to doze off while the afternoon light painted his walls. At first I’d been thinking about why he’d been skipping school, it kind of sounded like he was depressed, but I’m not a doctor. I didn’t want to say anything that would make it worse. So I didn’t say anything and eventually the atmosphere in the room turned into a calm sunny afternoon. 

Nearly an hour later Levi sighed and closed his book. It wasn’t loud at all but I slipped out of my half sleep anyway and blearily looked up at him. Levi was looking down at his legs, still tangled in mine, and after a second he spoke quietly. 

“Some days I wake up with a hole in my stomach. I don’t know why; it just happens. It’s the kind of whole that I want to fill with something, anything really, but I never really know what to fill it with. Everything I normally like to do seems, well I’m not sure how to explain it, but it feels off. Like it doesn’t help at all.” He took another breath. 

“When you showed up here, banging on my door, I wasn’t really sure what to do. I didn’t want you to feel off, too.” He sighed and I carefully found his hand and threaded our fingers together. Anything I could think of to help. 

Levi finally looked down at me then, a small, soft smile on his lips and I had to resist the urge to push myself up and capture his lips with mine. That smile is my favorite thing in the world; it’s the smile that only I get to see and only when I’ve done something particularly right. 

“I’m not really sure what I’m trying to say here,” Levi said and then paused, eyes searching the room like his poster covered walls would tell him the answers to all of his problems. “I guess, I’m just really glad you barged into my house today, even if it means that my aunt probably won’t ever let you back in.” 

I let out a little laugh. “Whenever you need me, babe,” I replied with a chuckle that turned more serious as I thought through what he’d said. “Wait, you really think she’ll never let me in again?” 

Levi’s smile turned into a smirk. “Don’t worry about it. You can always climb in through the window.” 

“Sneaky. I’ve been wondering if I could climb that tree in your yard for a while now,” I said honestly. 

“The day you climb in through the window will be the day I let you finally fuck me,” Levi replied and to me it sounded like challenge. 

“Promise?” I shot back. 

He looked down at me and I saw a bit of spark in his eyes. “Cross my heart.” 

I grinned. “Then it’s a date.” 

Levi settled back against the pillows, returning to his book and I stared up at the ceiling for a little while before I asked, “How’s the hole? In the pit of your stomach?” 

He sighed and set his book down again. “It’s still there, but it’s better. I’m… I’m glad you came over.” 

I couldn’t help the smile that took over my face and I pushed myself up off the bed to kiss his cheek, enjoying the blush that covered his face. I didn’t really know how to help with how he was feeling. Depression isn’t really something I know a lot about, but I’m willing to do anything I can and if being here with him is what he needs than I’m willing to stay here forever. 


End file.
